[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 143 (Monday, September 16, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6053-S6054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. King):
  S. 5055. A bill to require the United States Armed Forces to fully 
utilize applicable State extreme risk protection order programs, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the Armed 
Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act.
  This legislation is in response to the October 25, 2023, tragedy in 
Lewiston, ME. On that day, 18 Mainers were killed and 13 injured during 
the worst mass shooting in Maine's history. For 2 days, Lewiston and 
the surrounding communities were locked down and people were frightened 
as law enforcement searched for the shooter. It was a horrific event 
that Mainers will never forgot, nor should we.
  The phrase ``Lewiston strong'' continues to echo across our State as 
we remember those whom we lost nearly a year ago. The victims were 
enjoying time with their family and friends at a local bowling alley 
and a restaurant. They included four members of Maine's deaf community 
who had gathered at the restaurant that evening to play cornhole. They 
also included a 14-year-old high school honors student, an Army veteran 
who served tours in Iraq, and a volunteer coach for a youth bowling 
league. They were parents, husbands and wives, neighbors, coworkers, 
and friends. Lives were forever changed on that day as families 
continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones.
  The shooter was a sergeant first class in the Army Reserve. In the 
aftermath of the shootings, I led the Maine delegation in requesting an 
independent review by the inspector general of the Army to help us 
better understand what happened and what could have been done 
differently to help prevent this tragedy.
  I said then that I wanted to use the results of that review--as well 
as the findings of a separate investigation by the Army Reserve and the 
independent commission established by the Governor of Maine--to inform 
potential Federal legislation that could help prevent future shootings.
  The Army Reserve and the Army inspector general released their 
reports in July, and the independent commission appointed by the 
Governor released its report just last month. I commend the commission 
for its thorough report, and I thank the chairman of the commission, 
former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Daniel Wathen 
for his leadership.
  All of these investigations revealed that there were numerous missed 
opportunities to potentially intervene and prevent this horrific 
tragedy. In many instances, there was a clear lack of effective 
communication and coordination. For example, the independent commission 
concluded that the local sheriff's office was ``justified in pointing 
out that the Army Reserve did not share all relevant information it had 
about [the shooter's] behavior.'' In its report, the commission went on 
to explain that had Army Reserve personnel ``presented a full and 
complete accounting of the facts, the [sheriff's office] might have 
acted more assertively.''
  The findings of these investigations into the Lewiston shootings also 
serve as a stark reminder that members of our Armed Forces are not 
immune from mental illness.
  So, today, I am introducing legislation that is designed to help 
address these significant issues. If enacted, my bill will move us 
closer to achieving our goals of making our communities safer and 
ensuring that servicemembers in crisis get the assistance they need to 
prevent injury to themselves and to others.
  This bill is premised on my belief, which is supported by the 
findings of the investigations, that State crisis intervention programs 
should be fully utilized by our military when appropriate and with 
adequate due process protections. This can only happen, however, if 
relevant information is shared in a timely and effective manner.
  The Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act would 
facilitate that kind of communication and coordination between the 
Armed Forces and the relevant State, county, and local authorities that 
was lacking during the months leading up to the mass shootings in 
Lewiston.
  Specifically, this bill would direct the Armed Forces to fully 
utilize State crisis intervention programs in certain circumstances 
where the risk of harm is the greatest--namely, when a servicemember is 
determined to be unfit to possess military firearms due to that member 
making serious, credible threats of violence against themselves or 
against others or when a servicemember has been involuntarily committed 
to a hospital that specializes in caring for people with mental 
illness. ``Fully utilize'' is defined in the bill to mean taking action 
available to third parties under a State crisis intervention program 
and providing relevant material facts to appropriate law enforcement or 
judicial personnel.
  In the case of the Lewiston shooter, Robert Card, the Army Reserve 
determined that he should not have access to military weapons and 
facilitated his treatment at a mental hospital, but regrettably, it did 
not provide civilian law enforcement in Maine, where he resided, or in 
New York, where he was training, with all of the relevant information 
that it had. This bill would direct that such information be provided 
to the appropriate authorities through an established process so that 
the authorities can make fully informed decisions about whether to take 
additional steps pursuant to a State crisis intervention program.
  The bill also facilitates information sharing by directing the 
branches of our Armed Forces to fully participate in judicial 
proceedings authorized as part of a State crisis intervention program. 
This means that the branches of our Armed Forces would be required to 
produce upon request evidence as part of those proceedings.
  This provision is especially meaningful. If this bill had been law 
prior to the shootings and Maine law enforcement had initiated 
proceedings under the State of Maine's yellow flag law, the Army would 
have been directed to produce evidence that could have resulted in the 
shooter losing possession of his personal weapons--the weapons that he 
used to murder 18 people--and at the same time, he could have received 
additional treatment for his severe mental illness.
  I have worked for months to carefully craft this legislation, which 
also reflects the findings and recommendations of the three separate 
investigations I previously described. While drafting this bill, I 
solicited input from the relevant stakeholders--including the Army, 
veterans service organizations, and sportsman's groups, including the 
National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sportsman's Alliance of 
Maine.
  Responsible gun ownership is part of the heritage of many Maine 
families. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine has long been an effective 
voice in our State for preserving this heritage and protecting the 
Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, while recognizing 
that there are extreme circumstances in which action must be taken to 
intervene in order to prevent gun-related violence. I thank them for 
their thoughtful input and advice.
  The product of this collaborative and consultative process is a bill 
that is

[[Page S6054]]

carefully constructed. It is a bill that is designed to save lives.
  It is important to note once again that this proposal protects the 
due process and Second Amendment rights of servicemembers. It would not 
create a Federal crisis intervention program or impose new requirements 
on States or alter existing State programs or direct States to adopt 
such crisis intervention programs. The bill preserves the ability of 
States to craft their own crisis intervention programs. The Armed 
Forces would simply operate within each State's framework, provided 
that the State programs adhere to the due process and Second Amendment 
protections already specified by Congress in the Bipartisan Safer 
Communities Act.
  Moreover, if a current or former servicemember seeks to regain 
possession of his or her firearms through a judicial proceeding, he or 
she would be entitled to evidence from the military that could be 
helpful to his or her case.
  This legislation also does not affect the military's existing 
authority to disarm servicemembers of their issued weapons in a broad 
range of situations that are unrelated to a serious, credible threat of 
violence or involuntary commitment to a mental hospital.
  We often search for something good to come from a terrible tragedy. 
After shoppers were killed in Buffalo, NY, and schoolchildren and 
teachers were murdered in Uvalde, TX, we came together in this Chamber 
to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. I was honored to be part 
of that effort, which I believe has saved lives. Indeed, in June, the 
Department of Justice announced that it had charged more than 500 
defendants under the provisions of that law that target unlawful 
trafficking and straw purchasing of firearms. I coauthored those 
provisions to help take dangerous criminals off the streets, and that 
is exactly what is happening.
  Nothing that we can do can take away the pain, the shock, and the 
understandable anger felt by the families who lost loved ones last 
October, but we can and we should take legislative and administrative 
actions in response to the Lewiston tragedy. By taking such actions, we 
have a chance to help servicemembers in crisis. We have a chance to 
help protect our neighbors, our families, our communities. We have a 
chance to save lives.
  Let me end by thanking my colleague from Maine Senator King for 
cosponsoring this legislation. I urge the rest of our colleagues to 
join us in this important effort.

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